Building
Clean Air

How to Build a Corsi-Rosenthal (Clean Air) Box with Youth

Clean Air Boxes work.

The goal of building Clean Air Boxes is to reduce the spread of COVID-19 indoors, especially among vulnerable populations. However, the best way to keep you and your family safe from COVID-19 is to get vaccinated, boosted, and wear a high quality mask.
The Corsi-Rosenthal Box is an affordable Do-It-Yourself indoor air purifier that is designed to reduce the number of airborne particles that carry COVID-19.
The box uses a 20” box fan to draw air in through four MERV-13 air filters, and out back into the room to clean the air. It can clean the air inside of a classroom about three times per hour.
Building a Clean Air Box can connect to science, technology, engineering and math. Youth ages 8 and up can help build clean air boxes. Teams of at least 3 are recommended, with one adult to supervise. The hardest part is cutting the cardboard, so using large scissors is recommended with adult supervision.

Building Clean Air Boxes at Grant Elementary

In April 2022, the HETF partnered with the Jegna Klub, Clean Air Now KC, and adult volunteers to build 14 Clean Air Boxes with 50 youth from Grant Elementary in KCK.

You can watch a video of the first Clean Air Boxes built by the Health Equity Task Force:

What you need to build your own Clean Air Box:

You can find all of the materials at a local hardware store or online. The total cost of each box is about $100-150. For each box, you need:
- 1 x 20” Box Fan
- 4 x MERV-13 Air Filters
- 3 x 20” Cardboard Squares (can be recycled from the boxes the fans and filters came in)
- 1 x Roll of Duck Tape
  (use fun, colorful tape)
- 1-2 x Scissors
  (larger scissors makes it easier)
There are many guides for how to build a Corsi-Rosenthal Box that you can search for online.
To use the guide created by the Health Equity Task Force, Click Here.
Building a Clean Air Box takes teamwork and coordination. Depending on your skills using scissors, each box should take about 30 - 90 minutes.
It’s a great project for community groups, especially youth. Please note that having adult volunteers review the instructions carefully will help make the process go more smoothly for all included.
Anyone can build a Corsi-Rosenthal Box. However, it is a great chance to work with kids and introduce them to STEM careers (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math).
To see the short lesson plan that the Health Equity Task Force uses, Click Here. The slideshow also introduces STEM, Environmental Justice, and Health Equity as background information.
Once you build your Clean Air Box, you are free to use it wherever you want to.
However, there are some locations that may also need one, such as schools, senior housing, places of worship, or other indoor spaces where people who are vulnerable to COVID-19 gather.
Consider donating a Clean Air Box to a community location near you. Click Here to download a form you can print and share to provide more information about the Clean Air Box.